Where could advancing technology lead us in the field of nutrition?

Published in collaboration with the University of Roehampton Nutrition and Health Society

With increasing environmental and health-related pressures, 2023 has already been host of many new and exciting advances in nutrition technology. The possibilities are endless, but with more and more ideas coming to life, what changes could we continue to see?

Nutrition-focused apps

Expert nutritional information is no longer exclusively available to specialists and scientists. Social media platforms, such as Instagram and fast-accelerating TikTok, have contributed massively to the public’s understanding of how to make healthy changes.

The public is considering the role that diet plays in their day-to-day lives more now than ever before, taking responsibility for the long-term effects on their health and increasingly having a desire for tools to help them make improvements.

With My Fitness Pal leading the way with its meal-tracking app in 2005, mobile phone users can effortlessly scan the barcodes of foods or search for items and view the macro and micro-nutrients. These handy tools have been valuable in helping people with specific health goals and increasing awareness of what they are consuming.

Newer applications, such as Lollipop AI Smart Shopping Assistant, are moving the nutrition space into the realm of artificial intelligence (AI). By using information about their users’ goals, dietary requirements and available ingredients, the integrated AI generates curated recipes and tailored shopping lists.

One application that took the world by storm this year was Chat GPT, so I decided to test its abilities as a nutritional tool - asking it to create a one-day meal plan that is low in fodmaps, supports female hormonal health and keeps the costs down.

These were the results:

“Meal 1: Breakfast Low-FODMAP Overnight Chia Pudding - Estimated cost: £1.60

Meal 2: Snack Hormone-Balancing Smoothie - Estimated cost: £1.90

Meal 3: Lunch Low-FODMAP Quinoa Salad - Estimated cost: £2.10

Meal 4: Snack Roasted Chickpeas - Estimated cost: £0.75

Meal 5: Dinner Low-FODMAP Veggie Stir-Fry with Tofu - Estimated cost: £2.60”

Wearable sensors and devices

Another area in nutrition technology putting the power in the hands of the individual is wearable sensors and devices.

Fit Bits and Apple Watches are renowned for their step-counting features, heart rate monitors and integrated calorie trackers, but newer attributes of such gadgets, including glucose levels, hydration status and nutritional information for food, are turning them up a gear.

Last year, biomimetic sensors received attention for their role in precision nutrition, using sweat to monitor dietary nutrient intakes in real time. But while the technology is there, this biomarker detection method is undergoing development to cover a wider range of nutrients and improve the repeatability of results.

Emerging developments such as non-invasive ketone measurements also present new opportunities for those conscious of controlling blood sugar levels, such as people with diabetes or insulin-related PCOS. Previously dependent on urine and blood testing, ketone levels may now be detected through wearable devices using sweat composition or electrodes identifying particular ions.

Advanced Diagnostic Tools for Personalised Nutrition

Wearable devices are an exciting advancement in measuring blood sugar levels however accuracy is yet to meet the standard of traditional blood testing – a method which, until recently, would have to be carried out with a health professional.

Zoe Nutrition, co-founded by leading professor in the field, Tim Spector, released their blood sugar testing kits in the UK in April this year. Alongside gut microbiome testing – identifying good and bad bacteria in your poop - and blood fat testing, the Zoe personalised nutrition program offers at-home blood sugar test kits. These are then used to design a plan “tailored to your biology”, with food swap recommendations based on your scores.

Other advancements have been made on diagnostic tools using nutrigenomics – the study of how our genes interact with the nutrients in our foods and help to effectively personalise our diets. This technology is largely in the research stage, with smaller programs available to nutritionists, but recent attention and investments have shown promise for further developments in the near future.

3D-printed food

Moving away from technology that monitors our bodies and over to the foods that we put in them, new technologies are changing the degree to which we can control the quality and sustainability of what we consume.

The 3D printed food industry isn’t new to 2023 however these manufactured products are becoming closer to being widely accessible to the public, with breakthroughs such as a 3D printed cheesecake by researchers at Columbia University earlier this year.

Other foods, such pizzas, are in the making, and plant-based meat alternatives are well underway with companies such as Redefine Meat, Nova Meat and Mycorena (in collaboration with Revo Foods), experimenting with market possibilities. Furthermore, Steakholder Foods in Israel say they used cells from a grouper fish to print the first ever fish fillet.

While mostly used in fine dining and fancy bakeries as of today, 3D printed food presents a more accurate away to track calories and nutrients, improve efficiency in restaurants and digitally share recipe files. There are some obstacles slowing its commercial success, such as high costs and long manufacturing times but there is strong premise from high nutrient contents and the potential to reduce the environmental impacts of foods we consume, like protecting fish populations.

Gene-edited food

Using specialised enzymes to make specific alterations to food, the concept of gene-editing has shown new promise for nutritional value, crop yield and environmental sustainability in the food industry.

In addition to the formation of nutrient-rich crops, gene-editing methods offer improvements in taste and texture and even the possibility of reducing the allergenicity of foods.

Aside from the positives, Italy announced this year that they want to ban lab-grown meat in order to preserve food heritage - a decision based on concerns surrounding dangers to the food supply chain and businesses.

But despite this, a new Genetic Technology bill was passed in England in March this year, allowing the growing research and science relating to gene-edited food to be utilised when facing issues such as food security and environmental sustainability in the country.

Blockchain technology for food traceability

Lastly, Blockchain technology has been making headlines in 2023 for its ability to enhance food traceability. In turn, this promotes safe, sustainable and quality food through molecular biology techniques that enable real-time food monitoring using Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

The devices hold details, including the product’s origin, preparation and handling, and distribution, which offer increased confidence for stakeholders and consumers.

Some difficulties are present in the method’s high dependency on accurate data, requirement for consistency among systems, data formats and protocols, and the high costs involved in the initial building and implementing of a blockchain network.

The growing number of technological advancements in the nutrition industry this year indicates an increasing demand from those in it as well as the public. While some of the user-orientated methods are a long way from matching the level of training and experience possessed by experts, they offer an accessible and potentially useful tool for beginners. Industry developments also reveal an exciting trend that we can expect to see continue throughout the second half of 2023.